The Interior DIYer
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Updating a secondhand vase with paint

I’m not off to a great start with today’s post as I can’t find any ‘before’ photos despite having our swan vase for close to 6 years, it seems I’ve never taken a photo of it. I saw this swan vase in a charity shop years ago and bought it [probably for something like €5] because I’ve always liked swans and thought it had a really nice shape. Unfortunately, I only realised how aged and discoloured the vase was once I brought it home, but since I like swans so much, I kept it in our storage cupboard. For something like 6 years. 

Last weekend Robert bought me flowers and I went to our storage cupboard, picked up the swan vase, and as I was putting it back down as I’ve done so many times before, a thought popped into my head – what if I were to spray paint it black? Oh. Oh I like that idea.

I went for my can of Rust-Oleum’s chalkboard paint [this is not an ad – I’ve had this can for almost as long as my swan vase and I’m a genuine Rust-Oleum fan], put a plastic bag over my hand, held the vase upside down, put my hand in the vase and carefully spray painted thin layers onto the vase. I didn’t use a primer as I the paint adhered really well to the vase, but depending on the piece you’re painting, you may need to use a primer. I let the vase dry for at least an hour before using it to be sure the paint was completely dry.

I don’t know why it took me so long to paint it. I’ve always loved that vase, but the colour gave me such a stink-face every time I reached for it that I’m just glad I thought to paint it. There are many people who may say I’ve destroyed an old or vintage vase by painting it, and I’m okay with that, but I’m using it for the first time since I bought it so that’s a good decision in my books. 

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Second hand love dove lamp

I’ve been dying to share my latest second hand find. This morning Cora was compliant enough to let me take some pictures [while she kicked around on our bed], and I was even able to get a bit of a blog post together too. I am feeling very together and boss-mom. For now. I suspect this is a fleeting feeling.

A week or so before Christmas I stopped into Second Abbey to see if the gloriously kitsch dove lamp I spotted months before was still there, and luckily, it was [I’ve had terrible luck lately with things I’ve not bought being long gone the next time I go back to buy them]. The lamp was in good condition [meaning, it wasn’t broken], but it was in need of new paint as it was yellowed and scratched, and a new shade was desperately needed [the current shade was transparent red ribbon wrapped around the wire and looked terrible when the light was on].

First I cleaned and repainted the doves with white furniture paint. Robert wasn’t too keen on the dove’s anatomically correct beady red eyes that looked directly into his soul, so I painted them white along with the rest of their bodies. Don’t worry, they’re just sleeping! Very in keeping with their new bedroom environment.

I next focused on updating the lamp shade. The shape of the original shade really didn’t suit the lamp. It was far too narrow and made the lamp look very bottom heavy, so on Monday evening I headed to B&Q with crazy lamp in hand and tried a bunch of shades for size. It came down to either a gold glitter lamp shade [which I was very in love with but it unfortunately gave off a very strange glow when the light was on], or a rectangular black shade. As you can guess, the black shade won. The shape is so perfect for the lamp – it’s hard to tell but the size of the shade perfectly balances the oblong lamp base and anchors all the crazy going on below. But the lamp’s update is not completely finished yet. Because our bedroom is painted nearly black, the black shade disappears into the background. I’m thinking of maybe re-covering the shade in a different fabric and adding sassy tassels, but I’m going to take my time and think about what colours and textures might suit it before rushing into anything.

Yeah, it takes up nearly my entire bedside table, but I give zero cares. I just look at how amazing it is and then I get over it.

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#DublinDesignNight 2016

Last Wednesday night saw Dublin’s second annual #DublinDesignNight as organised by Yelp and Image Interiors & Living make its way across the city centre. I was pretty excited as it was my first ‘night out’ since having Cora, so while I unfortunately didn’t get to visit every venue on the map, I tried my best to get to a good few places before hobbling to the bus [it can be tough to walk and stand for long periods of time after having a baby. Who knew?].

I first visited Designist, where everyone was greeted with a hot chocolate not-so-secretly-spiked with rum. If this is something you haven’t heard of or tried before, TRY IT. I may just be my new favourite hot winter drink. 

I picked up another of The Handmade Soap Company‘s candles. I bought their grapefruit and may chang candle a few months ago and loved it, so this time I picked up one of their sweet orange, basil and frankincense candles. I also picked up an adorable frog patterned Bandana Bib by Little Green Dot for little Cora [which I have yet to use because it’s far too cute]. 
From there, I quickly visited Appassionata, Irish Design Shop and Industry. All of which were packed so I didn’t stay long. I made one last stop at Article before heading home. I’ve had my eye on their swan mobile for a long time and these days I find that if I don’t get something I really like when I first see it, it’ll be gone the next time I check. So I grabbed one [seen below yet to be assembled] and think it’ll be perfect over Cora’s changing table / dresser to keep her entertained and slightly less wriggly. I also saw one of those old-school clip in letter board signs, but as it was a little more expensive, it would more so be a mini investment. Which usually means I think about it non-stop for a week then end up taking a trip into town especially to get it. We’ll see 😉

You can read my post on last year’s and first #DublinDesignNight here!